To Rage Trouble (8)

All that remained were gifts for the butler and the maid, and for Miho, Hiarid, and Darky. I didn't waste time agonizing. I simply grabbed whatever looked like it might be useful.

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Choi Soohan always went around in a butler's suit, so I bought her a set of women's cufflinks. Sophia, ever since she had become a test subject for my mental manipulation, seemed to crave some token of belonging—proof that she was bound to me—because she often wore a chain necklace. To put it kindly, it was a chain necklace. In practice it was a dog collar. So I bought her a black, tattoo-style choker and bracelet set.

For Hiarid I chose four silk scarves embroidered in a strange pattern of white and yellow. As for Miho, I figured she would be happiest if I packed cookies and candy into a box bigger than she was, so I stopped by the big supermarket in the basement of Grand Blue.

The place spanned thousands of square feet, brighter and cleaner than most department stores, and it was packed. Residents from the nearby apartments clearly used it too.

The moment I stepped inside, the general manager came running and bowed so deeply, and so often, that I felt a little awkward. Then I heard he was staff of the Grand Blue raid team, and I nodded.

"Do you happen to have a big box?"

"A large box, sir? How large did you have in mind?"

"Something taller than a person. Big enough to fill with snacks."

"I'll have one made at once."

With that he vanished into the logistics warehouse, folded and taped a wide sheet of cardboard in a flash, and came back with a box truly the size of a person. His hands were so good I half wondered whether they ought to just sell the things as they were.

After that the supermarket's general manager carried the box himself, followed me around while I packed the snacks, and even wrapped the whole thing in colorful paper with such devotion that I thanked him before I realized I was doing it.

"You've got plenty of work, and you still helped me. Thank you."

"Not at all! If you need anything, please come by anytime!"

Ugh. He was Grand Blue raid-team staff, so of course he was scrupulously polite—and because of that, every eye in the place was on me. Next time I was shopping somewhere else.

That left Darky's gift. Darky was about as close to a pure aberrant as a creature could get, so rather than some human present, I decided on a TP orb condensed from about ten thousand of my own TP.

By the time I had bought everything, more than an hour had flown by. Thanks to Space Leaping, I hadn't spent a single second on travel.

If I had walked it on two legs, I would have wasted a good three hours. The streets were that choked with couples out for Christmas.

Gifts in hand, I Space Leaped straight to the Phase Stone storeroom and set them down.

Leave them here and no one would notice. I wasn't exactly gunning for a surprise, but springing them on people would startle them more. Heh heh heh.

I Space Leaped to the living room, and right on cue Miho was touching down on the terrace, floating behind her on the wind a mass of flowers more than five times her own size.

She seemed to be doing exactly as I had ordered—hitting every flower shop in Gangnam and scraping them clean. Five flower mounds of similar bulk were already standing in the living room.

She set the bundle down, came running, and threw her arms around my chest.

"Master~ Do I gotta buy more flowers?"

I looked at the mounds stacked nearly to the ceiling and shook my head.

"This is enough. Shall we start decorating? Miho, mind helping?"

"Okay!"

Maybe because it was Christmas Eve, most of the flowers were roses. I had Miho cut every stem and leave only the buds.

"Got it!"

She answered with complete confidence, raised a precisely controlled wind, and began shearing the flowers so that nothing remained but the petals. Darky, dangling from her neck, looked utterly appalled, yanked on her fox ears, and worked their mouth.

"Hey, you dumb fox! Whatcha doin' leavin' only the petals! Can't ya just cut the stems proper?!"

"Ow ow ow! Don't pull my ears!"

Darky had started in on dialect now. Following those instructions, Miho cut only the stems with wind and began stacking nothing but buds in a neat pile off to one side.

With Miho and Darky raising a racket in the living room, Suhan and Sophia came out of their rooms, saw the place buried in flowers, and went wide-eyed.

When had Sophia even gotten back? She opened her already large eyes even wider, looked around the flower-drowned room, and smiled.

"Whoa~? What are all these flowers, Master?"

"It's our first Christmas Eve, so I thought I'd decorate. You stepped out earlier—when did you get back?"

"Ah, I just went to see my sister! I had her get in touch with the Stock Ghost!"

The Stock Ghost? Quick on the uptake, Sophia started answering even as she set about making the house look good with the stemless flowers Miho had trimmed.

"Yep! That man can't do anything but stocks, so if you don't put him to use even at a time like this, he'll just rot in the corner of his room as a shut-in!"

And what's wrong with being a shut-in! It's a wholesome hobby that doesn't hurt anybody! ...No. This was not because I used to be one.

Suhan neatly gathered her straight hair into a pretty ponytail, then helped Sophia dress every corner of the house by color. Her cheeks flushed a little and the corners of her eyes softened. She didn't say so, but she looked pleased.

"You're going to work with him?"

"Yes! Please look forward to the results!"

She said it with such certainty, arms full of buds, that I decided not to ask any more. She would tell me when the time came.

Hiarid, back from the temporary lab, came in through the terrace, looked around the flower-filled house, and—rarely—broke into a bright smile.

"Hiarid smiled!"

"Ooh. An angel's smile. Ooh."

"Ah. Ahem. I shall help as well."

Anyway, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the work split itself. Miho cut the stems off with wind. Sophia decorated with the cut flowers. Hiarid and Suhan tidied up and directed from behind.

Once it was divided that way, the house filled with flowers in no time. Buds of every color carpeted the floor ankle-deep, and I couldn't help snickering.

Hiarid must have liked flowers. I caught her lifting a bud to her nose and smiling faintly. I looked down at their backs as they crawled along, gently clearing paths from the living room into the bedrooms and the kitchen, then switched on my Certifier.

Yeongeun was probably busy, but I had something genuinely important to say, so I sent a message earnestly telling her to come home and eat dinner even if she was swamped.

I was giving gifts to all my lovers. It wouldn't do for her alone to receive hers after the day had passed. That counted as important. I also needed to tell her about the aberrants I had turned loose in America.

"Oh my~! What is all this?"

Having gotten my message, Yeongeun clocked out at exactly seven and arrived home. The moment she stepped in she looked around the house turned flower garden, pleasantly flustered, and followed the path of flowers toward the flower-covered sofa.

"Do you like it? A Christmas tree felt stale, so I tried this. Miho helped a lot."

"I helped a lot!"

The living-room floor was so thick with flowers that Miho, who had been floating around playing games, shot a hand up and answered brightly.

"It tickles right in my chest~"

Yeongeun laughed, radiant, gave me a light kiss on the lips, and pecked Miho on the cheek as well.

"Ehehe."

Franc and Hwayeon arrived right after and stared around the flower-field interior with startled eyes.

Hwayeon's eyes went round. A little flustered, she carefully followed the flower path to the sofa. Franc smiled with her eyes, glided over, and kissed my cheek with a soft smack. Then she looked at the buds of every color filling the house.

"It is truly beautiful. Miho was rushing back and forth, and I wondered what she was doing. So this was the occasion you were arranging?"

"It must have been a great deal of work."

"If Miho hadn't helped, it would've been rough."

At that Franc called her admirable, pulled her into a hug, and rubbed cheeks with her. Hwayeon reached out and stroked Miho's head, and Miho wore a happy fox-grin, spinning slowly through the air in delight.

"Uhehe~."

"First, all three of you go wash up. Let's eat."

I had washed first, then, while decorating, gathered only the fallen petals and floated a tub full of them. Seeing how happy they were, I figured they would like the bathroom too.

The three lovers went in with smiles blooming on their faces, and just as expected burst out laughing again at the petals filling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the room.

"Oh my?"

"Hohoho. A petal bath?"

"The scent is lovely."

They enjoyed the petal bath, finished washing, and came out with flushed faces to sit on the sofa, holding buds to their noses and resting their heads against my shoulders.

Yeongeun seemed curious what the important matter was, but when Suhan and Sophia brought out a table laden with food, she clearly didn't want to spoil the mood by bringing it up on purpose. She smiled and ate her dinner.

After the warm meal, once the table was cleared, we gathered for tea and idle talk. When I brought out the gifts I had prepared, my lovers' eyes went round.

Franc and Yeongeun in particular stared blankly at the variously wrapped presents in my hands, startled, then started to fluster.

I didn't know why they were flustered, but first I picked up a small wrapped box and set it in Franc's hands.

"Here. This one's your gift, Franc."

Franc accepted the palm-sized box with a face that was glad, flustered, and apologetic all at once, taking it with care. Hwayeon received a long, narrow rectangular box and went blank.

Yeongeun got a box about the same size as Franc's and opened her mouth with a grateful, sorry look.

"Wh-what am I supposed to do with this. We didn't even prepare anything to give you, Seoha..."

Ah. So that was it. Franc and Hwayeon were looking at me with faces full of embarrassment, so I grinned and said it.

"To me, the three of you are the greatest gift there is."

At that all three lovers, deeply ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠moved, pulled me into their arms at once and started raining kisses on my face.

"Wow!"

"Thank you, Seoha!"

"Th-thank you. A Christmas present... I hadn't even thought of it... I'm sorry."

"Ahem. All right. There are some for the rest of you, too."

I handed a gift box each to Sophia, Suhan, Miho, Hiarid, and Darky, who had been watching from the side with faintly envious faces. Their faces brightened, and they looked at me with sparkling eyes on the verge of bursting.

Miho, especially, who had received a box taller than she was, cheered as if nothing in the world could be better, then lifted the box wrapped in colorful paper and tilted her head.

Her expression said it weighed far less than she had expected.

Then she gleefully tore the box apart with all her strength.

Rrrrip.

"Whoa?!"

Unable to withstand her strength, it burst, and bags of snacks poured over her head and all around her. Her already large eyes went as wide as saucers.

"Whoa! Whoa!? These are all snacks?!"

"Yeah. Once you eat the candy and such, make sure you brush your teeth."

"Kyaaa~! Master, I really, really love you~! Waaa~!"

Her fox ears flapped like mad, and her seven snow-white tails spun like a pinwheel. She couldn't contain the joy, bouncing and beaming.

It was only snacks, and she was this happy. A little embarrassing.

I was laughing at her rolling around, hugging the spilled bags with a blissful face, when Sophia opened her gift too. She opened a small leather case, took out a chain-pattern choker and bracelet, and looked at me with trembling eyes, on the verge of tears.

"Th-thank youuu... I'll treasure them my whole life!"

Suhan clutched the two cufflinks—gems like a galaxy floating inside fingernail-sized blue beads—and, face deeply flushed, greeted me in a trembling voice. "Thank you."

Hiarid draped the large scarf, beautifully embroidered in the colors of her hair and wings, around her neck and smiled faintly. Darky saw the blue orb condensed with ten thousand TP, and suddenly their whole body flowed down and turned to pudding—then snapped straight back into doll form and jammed the TP orb into their chest.

"Hngh. In it goes, in it goes, sluuurp!"

I could see the blue TP orb floating inside the drunkenly swaying figure's lush, swollen chest. Like a slime's core.

Watching them rejoice far beyond what the gifts were worth, I wondered if receiving a present really felt that good.

After Miho kicked off the unwrapping, Franc carefully undid her wrapping so it wouldn't tear, then drew out a perfume bottle of pale pink fragrance inside a palm-sized transparent diamond-shaped vessel, and wore a smile as bright as the moon.

"It's beautiful..."

"It's a perfume themed on camellias. When I sampled the scent, your image came to me right away. That's why I picked it."

"Th-thank you. Seoha."

Seeing her so happy she nearly teared up, a grin formed on my face before I knew it. Next Hwayeon carefully unwrapped hers, and the moment two sets of underwear were revealed, her face went red.

"Wh-what is this."

"Underwear. Sometimes you seem like a girl, sometimes like a temptress, and I thought of you and bought them. Do you like them?"

"Uh. Mm. I... like them."

Yeongeun came up to Hwayeon, who was fiddling with the underwear, face embarrassed and red, and with a mischievous look poked those flushed cheeks. Hwayeon flinched, turned to her, and asked what she was doing.

"Yeon, you don't know what a gift of underwear means?"

The meaning of the gift? I hadn't thought of that. Was Franc nearly crying because of the meaning, too?

S-still, if Yeongeun was talking like that, it probably wasn't a bad thing! Hiding how flustered I was, I looked at Hwayeon, who wore an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry. I'm hopeless at this sort of thing..."

"A gift of underwear has two meanings. In this case, perhaps both apply?"

At Yeongeun's giggling explanation—about ninety-eight percent short on actual explanation—Hwayeon just kept her reddened face and ran her fingertips over the case that held the underwear.

Yeongeun, having watched Franc and Hwayeon open theirs, started carefully peeling her own wrapping with an expectant look, and everyone focused on the gift in her hands.

"...Oh my."

Inside the wrapping, quickly undone, a wristwatch sat in an elegant crystal case.

Yeongeun stared blankly at the band of tiny diamonds linked tight and the beautifully crafted watch, then without hesitation took off the sleek one she was already wearing, put on the one I had given her, and turned it this way and that in the lamplight.

She suddenly pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed the corners of her eyes, then came into my arms with those eyes gone red.

"Aigoo. How embarrassing—tears almost coming. Isn't the light just too bright?"

Then Hwayeon, who had looked up the meaning of an underwear gift, came to my side and held my hand tight. Franc drifted over, trailing a soft, faint scent of camellia, took my cheek, and kissed me.

Everyone was so excessively happy that it was a little bewildering, but seeing them like it made me happy too.

While they were crying out with joy over what they had received, I quietly looked up the meanings of the gifts I had given. Perfume meant please remember me always. For Franc, that could mean several things.

And underwear... it had several meanings, but broadly it meant I want all of you. Was that why Yeongeun had envied it so?

The watch's meaning was dead simple. It meant, plainly, I want to spend this time with you. Yeongeun, older than the rest of us, quietly worried about that side of things, and when I gave her a watch the feeling had burst out of her.

What a relief that gifts I had bought without a thought still carried meanings that suited my lovers, once you actually stopped to consider them.

Next time I gave gifts, I ought to think about the meaning too.

...But most ordinary gifts had good meanings, didn't they? Even the scarf I had given Hiarid meant I will love only you forever—and there was no way I loved Hiarid.

That night I thought I would melt under my lovers' devoted, rapturous love.

Th-they licked and sucked me even in places too embarrassing to say aloud. Honestly, doing it for them was fine. But when the positions reversed and I was the one receiving it, the feeling was incredibly strange.

"The feeling makes me glad, but how do I put it. It's good when I do it. Actually receiving that kind of thing feels a bit..."

"I'm not dirty, you know? Once I reached B-Class, my digestion and absorption got close to perfect, so I don't even do bodily functions anymore. Completely clean."

I grumbled it under my breath, but Hwayeon and Yeongeun were B-Class too, and they still relieved themselves once every three or four weeks. This applied to me alone.

Saying it out loud to my lovers felt like highlighting the fact that I wasn't human, so I didn't.

Ah... I hadn't taken this woman for the type, but her sex jokes were on another level.

Hearing R-rated cracks one after another, delivered in a voice as gentle and clear as a saint's, the sense of transgression was no joke.

I had shared love with my lovers until late into the night—love that felt as if it would melt my whole body—but body and mind had both grown too hot for sleep. So I washed simply and came out to the living room to cool off.

I opened the living-room window without turning on the lights and was sitting on the sofa in the cold wind when Ispect's shaft began to hum and cry. I grabbed it, thinking it had something to say, and that was how I ended up in an R-rated talk in the dead of night.

"Seriously. What kind of mouth does a supreme priestess have? Is there some rule that to become the supreme priestess you have to be good at sex jokes?"

I had no idea how this woman's idea of sex was even put together. Leave her alone and I had the uneasy feeling she would go on about this forever, so I changed the subject.

"So what did you want to talk about, that you called me?"

"What's a Nurlark?"

The moment I heard Nuhodi's words, lightning struck inside my head.